


Ekhov and other Kryptonian Words for Love

by yoshitakamine



Category: DC Animated Universe, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Kryptonian, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 12:55:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9658295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoshitakamine/pseuds/yoshitakamine
Summary: Clark realizes his not so subtle crush on Bruce is because of his Kryptonian physiology, and he's hellbent on proving just that.





	

“They’re so….blue.” Clark had pointed out nonchalantly, and Hal had never been more eager to put down his cup of coffee and let the big guy elaborate.

“ _Who_ and _what_ is?” Hal prompted, feeling amused by how Superman could get easily distracted by everything. It could be a rock in space for all he cared. Or a puddle back in Kansas, or just anything other than what he was about to complete the sentence with honestly.

“ _Bruce’s_ \- I mean Batman’s eyes. Has anyone ever…noticed?” Clark had to address this question to all, he couldn’t bear the thought of others just _assuming_ that he stared at Batman’s eyes long enough to tell the color beneath the white retinas.

Hal had never been hit with such a huge wave of disappointment before in his life. It was like tsunami buzzkill came crashing down the docks, laying waste to everything in its path. Batman. He was talking about Batman. Of course he would be. Who was the ball and who was the chain remained to be answered.

“Big _Blue_ ” he emphasized, feeling proud of the incipient pun there “Do you even read his reports or are you too lost in his eyes to pretend to read?”

The Man of Steel blushing like a timid maiden was on the top of things he wanted to witness before checking out (preferably in his late 80s). Yes here he was, in all his glory, cheeks flushed and eyes cast downwards like he was inspecting the floor on a molecular level.

Clark wanted to argue, to retaliate, but the words were stuck in his throat and the meeting was about to begin. And Bruce, Bruce would always be the first to speak up and inform the rest of the League of any pending missions or reports having gone unfiled.

“It’s important we’re professional.” Bruce started off, his voice steady and guttural as always. “For example-“ he dropped a clipboard on the round table and huffed. “ _Smiley faces._ We’re a respected organization fighting crime, not five year olds on our first pop quiz.”

Clark couldn’t help but smile faintly at that. Nothing like a good ol’ Bruce lecture to take off the edge. “I agree that it’s not really .. _proper,_ to scribble on reports we file on the system but lenience-“ His sentence was cut short by the famous or rather _infamous_ bat scowl.

“Lenience-“ Bruce pressed “ _is earned_. Not to mention we’re here to protect our planet from any budding crime syndicates, in case you’ve forgotten.”

Clark was a placid man. Though there was something about Bruce challenging him that brought out his very primal side, one he was so desperately trying to control.

 _“You’re being ridiculous, and continuously persist on arguing with me on the most simple of things.”_ Clark spat out in _Kryptonian_ ,  a habit he had picked up after delving more into his roots.

“ _English_.” Bruce grit his teeth, body flashing with anger. Kryptonian was one of those languages he’d never fully master, but could easily tell the gist of in a sentence from the inflation and the enunciation of words.

“ _Not unless you calm down._ ” Clark continued, arms folded in front of his chest. _“People don’t need to know how much of a child you are.”_ He provoked, further pushing Bruce down the road of channeling thirty different self-control techniques.

“ _For God’s sake!_ ” That wasn’t hard to guess, even for those who hadn’t dabbled in Kryptonian before. He had translated it directly to the Kryptonian word for God and hadn’t made a reference to Rao, something that had perplexed Clark, although briefly. It wasn’t like him to overlook culturally-tied vocabulary.

“My ring isn’t fast enough for you guys, how about we all take five?” Hal’s feet had left the table, hands poking at the green energy glowing around the ring. “We have all night to listen to some more obscure Kryptonian insults _, my guess_ at least.”

“A break is well deserved, if I daresay...sir. Batman. Sir.” Barry spluttered in the mess of it all, his obvious admiration for the man getting the best of him. He still couldn’t adjust to the idea of Batman, _the_ Batman, briefing him every other weekday  in the same room as the rest of the bunch.

                                                                       

* * *

 

“Rao.” Clark harrumphed once, getting Bruce’s attention.

He had slipped by them all to get that well deserved coffee break in the upper floor’s cafeteria, the smaller one, less crowded and a bit more…private.

“Pardon?” Bruce acted like the previous outburst was just something they could leave behind them, and laugh about over muffins and sweet tea.

“You used _eul_ , and not Rao. Why?” He let his eyes roam over Bruce’s nape and neckline before turning his attention to him again. He was making coffee, adding a tad too many sugar cubes in his mug. He was about to cover it with one hand, stopping him from chugging down what may as well have been called diabetes in a cup, when Bruce drew a breath.

“ _You_ use Rao. I considered it…” he trailed off “ _Culturally_ insensitive of me to speak the name of a high religious figure in vain, not being Kryptonian myself.” He dipped a spoon in the mug, stirring in a steady circular motion.

“How thoughtful of you.” Clark exclaimed, his voice getting chirpy at the idea of Bruce deliberately holding back even in an argument.

Yes _well_ , thoughtful wasn’t exactly what Clark had in mind, but he didn’t need to know about all that. The irony of it all was that he had blurted out Bruce’s name more times than the great Rao himself, in moments of agony, excitement and surprise.

It was then when it hit Clark, the beauty and the downfall of it all. The hue that had  been threatening to replace Kryptonite’s ember glow. It had been fleeting, one moment he was on his knees, the next, ready to take in the sight.

“ _Ehkov_.” he stated matter-of-factly out of the blue, Bruce having reached the climax of his argument by that point.

“Blue.” Bruce translated with ease, eyes furrowed.

“Yes, _blue_ , Bruce.” He was pointing at a direction Bruce couldn’t really follow, and the mention of his name mid-sentence was more alarming than reassuring.

“Am I missing something?” He wasn’t really sure who that was aimed at, him overshadowing Sherlock Holmes in all things detective work and all that. He had long dropped the idea of enjoying a cup of coffee, and was rather enthusiastically counting all the ways he could escape from the door right behind Clark. Because frankly, the man was a mystery at times and his mind worked in ways not even the world’s greatest detective could comprehend.

“ _Ekhov skis.”_ The sound was low, throaty, like the implication was going to do more than enlighten Bruce on the weird exchange of Kryptonian words.

“ _Blue eyes_.” Bruce let out a sigh and stared at him, for what seemed a full minute before deciding to try his luck with him.

“I have blue eyes.” He pointed out, sipping on his now cold coffee. “Are you studying the human eye or…”

“Yours in particular.” A most shameless type of flirting, if Bruce didn’t know any better. “See I figured out why they make me so weak.” Clark had moved past the counter, moving in closer to his personal space.

“Pray tell.”  Bruce hadn’t flinched or made move for the door, Clark taking that as a subtle cue to continue.

“If you’ll allow me to provide some background information-“

“Oh certainly, it’s not like we have a briefing in exactly” he looked up at the clock above the door frame “ten minutes.”

“I’ll be quick.” He cleared his throat, hands hanging loosely by his sides in resolve. “There are…different types of Kryptonite, as you may have heard.”

Bruce allowed a brief gesture resembling a nod, and remained neutral throughout the didactic tour back in time.

“Green Kryptonite, most common for stripping me of my powers is one. Gold Kryptonite-“ Bruce had no idea what really made him believe he wouldn’t have studied the different types of life threatening minerals from Krypton. He even carried a shard around, making him the _last person_ to try and educate on the matter.

“Clark, focus.” He interrupted. “Are we getting anything out of this?”

“You’re my blue Kryptonite.” He blurted out, rather unabashedly too, like it had been so obvious from the beginning.

The deep chuckle escaping Bruce was perfectly timed with the countdown to the end of their little get-together. He thought he had seen and heard enough for a lifetime, apparently not.

                                                                      

* * *

 

“Alright so the ring…” Hal began their meeting with the obvious revelation “the ring said Superman apparently called you a ‘child’?” He ignored the glare from Bruce, and felt daring enough to add his own comments. “ _And we missed that?_ ”

Now was the time for the all-mighty Batman to convince himself he was above this. Years of training and self-control would not go down the drain over some petulant fight in the conference room. He was a respected league member, they all were, this just _wasn’t_ going to happen today.

Clark gave Bruce a knowing look, something to remind him that it was time to lay this to rest and bury the hatchet. He muffled whatever Hal was about to come up with next with a firm pat to the back, sending him to a coughing fit, and stood up, resuming their daily report.

He had spaced out at least twice, _Bruce_ , and Clark was extremely lucky his physiology enabled him to multitask between bodily functions, otherwise he’d have just stared at him until someone removed him. He was looking way below eye level whenever he’d address him, and it didn’t help that their previous conversation may have been the reason for the lack of interest in his own blue eyes.

When the meeting was finally over, and he stressed the _finally_ part, he had locked onto Bruce before he could make it out the door, a faint whisper in his ear telling him to follow him in a nearby storage room.

“Bruce..” he held his voice in the back of his throat, having mustered up the courage to approach him twice about this “About what happened back in the cafeteria-“

“Is this the part where you tell me it was all an elaborate joke? Save it, Clark I’ve had enough for one day.” It wouldn’t have been the first time, but Bruce’s voice was laced with a certain emotion that was hard to believe at the given time. _Disappointment?_ Say Clark really was just celebrating April fool’s early, was Bruce that disappointed the obvious flirting wasn’t actually _all that_?

“This is the part where I tell you I meant every word.” Clark moved closer, arms resting on Bruce’s shoulders.

“ _Show me then_.” He taunted, removing the cowl with expertise and letting it fall behind him. “ _Show me how weak Blue Kryptonite makes you._ ” His voice pronouncing Kryptonian words felt like fire on his body, the heat enveloping him slowly in what he had hoped would be eternity.

His finger brushed against Bruce’s jaw, lifting his chin and staring in his eyes before surrendering to his death. He wasn’t wrong, this was really folly. Bruce’s lips were coated with poison, a poison he didn’t want to stop swallowing and having it in return swallow him whole. He could feel the heat emitting from him, the faint dizziness, his knees giving out and his senses abandoning him. If he could classify this type of Kryptonite, it’d be something along the lines of _lethal_ and ‘ _caution; may cause severe heart failure_ ’.

Bruce pulled back with an audible groan, wiping his mouth with the back of his glove. “I think I believe you now. Maybe I am your Blue Kryptonite.”

They shared a knowing look, Clark unlocking the door for them both and stepping out to a thankfully deserted hallway.

“Let’s see how long it takes for me to surrender to your touch then.” He gave him a chaste peck on the lips.

“Don’t fall for me too hard boy scout.” Bruce smirked in the kiss, meeting his eyes for the last time before putting on the cowl again, re-adjusting it around his jaw where Clark had peppered him with kisses.

“Well, seems I’ve failed already. Mind if we try again?” Clark smiled.

“Bruce Wayne, pleasure to meet you.” He smiled wickedly, Clark’s questioning look turning into a big grin after figuring out just how deviously Bruce’s mind worked.

“ _The pleasure is all mine_.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> This came to me after reading numerous Kryptonian-based fics with a focus on linguistics so here I am! I have to admit, the prospect of Bruce and Clark communicating in Clark's native language fills m'heart with joy. So I had to take that and make it ten times fluffier.
> 
> *I couldn't really find the plural for 'eye' in Kryptonian so I had to go with singular.  
> **I also used the IPA spelling for the words, not really knowing how yall add the actual characters in text. HTML? Witchcraft? Who knows.


End file.
